by ORIENT AVIATION 

February 1st 2014

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Conrad Clifford, whose 30-year career in aviation has included running Antrak Air Ghana, Virgin Nigeria, the Monarch Travel Group and senior roles at Cathay Pacific Airways,Virgin Atlantic Airways, Emirates Airline and the Menzies Aviation Group, will succeed Maunu von Lueders as the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) Asia-Pacific vice president, based in Singapore. Read More » A former Finnair senior executive, von Lueders will retire in March after three years running IATA’s Asia-Pacific operations.

Father of IOSA:IATA’s Guenther Matschnigg

In another strategic IATA appointment, Kevin Hiatt, until recently the president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, is IATA’s new senior vice president, safety and flight operations, based on Montreal. Hiatt was vice president for corporate safety and security at World Airways and is a 26-year veteran of Delta Airlines where he held positions including chief pilot at the carrier’s Atlanta International Airport pilot crew base. He will fill the big shoes of Guenther Matschnigg, who has retired. Said Tony Tyler, IATA’s director general and CEO, “Guenther’s achievements are far too many to list. Among them is the conception and development of the IOSA program. In a spirit of constant improvement, he has also overseen the launch of the Enhanced IOSA. We all owe Guenther an enormous debt of gratitude for his strong leadership in the areas of safety, operations, security and infrastructure during his 14 years at IATA.”

At Boeing, Marc Allen, who has run Boeing China since early 2011, is moving to Seattle to head up the Boeing Capital Corporation, following the retirement of Mike Cave. A Boeing veteran of 31 years, Cave has been president of the company’s finance arm since January 2013. He also has been Boeing’s senior vice president of business development & strategy, chief financial officer of the commercial airplane unit and vice president finance for Boeing information space and defence systems. Lawyer Allen (40), will be responsible for re-aligning the Boeing capital unit under Boeing Corporate Treasury.

Ian Thomas, until recently president of Boeing Australia and the South Pacific, will succeed Allen as president of Boeing China, reporting to Shep Hill, president Boeing International.

In December last year, Boeing chairman, CEO and president, Jim McNerney, announced the promotion of Ray Conner, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, to Boeing vice chairman. Conner has been running the airplane unit since June 2012 following the retirement of Jim Albaugh.

Air China has confirmed that the airline’s chairman, Wang Changshun (56), a lifetime career politician and aviation boss, will resign from all board and chairman positions at the flag carrier, to take up the role of vice minister of China’s Transport Ministry. His successor at Air China will be Cai Jianjiang.

A prominent member of China’s ruling political party, Wang began making his mark in aviation as deputy general manager of Xinjiang Airlines, where he also served as a government official in the province. In October 2000, he moved south when he was appointed general manager of China Southern Airlines and then deputy general manager of the airline’s holding company and a party vice chairman. He returned to Beijing to join the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) in 2004, where he became a deputy secretary of the supreme aviation regulatory body. He succeeded Kong Dong as Air China’s chairman in late 2011.

Cai joined Air China in 2001, where he became president and executive director of the airline in 2007. He has worked Air China’s Shanghai hub and has been chairman of Air China subsidiary, Shenzhen Airlines, since 2010. In Mainland aviation industry circles, Cai is credited with transforming Air China into the country’s most profitable airline.

In Hong Kong, Hainan Airlines controlled budget carrier, Hong Kong Express, has announced changes at the top at the very new airline, including a new executive chairman and president, Zhi-min Ma, a former president of West Air in China and an executive of several Hainan Airlines group companies. The airline also has appointed a new commercial director, Luke Lovegrove, a former chief commercial officer for Peach Aviation and a senior executive at the Tigerair group.

Cathay Pacific Airways’ director sales & marketing, Rupert Hogg (51), will take up his new role as Chief Operating Officer at the airline next month, in a team lead by the new chief executive, Ivan Chu, who succeeded John Slosar at the carrier. Slosar will move up to chairman of the airline, John Swire & Sons (HK) Ltd, Swire Pacific Ltd, Swire Properties Ltd and the Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Co. Ltd next month.